Hi Maya,
This is a very good question.
I guess – you pretty much don’t know unless you try both. My understanding so far is that if the local office is busy processing many people, there is chance that the lawyer can do very little to speed up the process. In cases like this it is maybe better to contact the local congressman. This is probably my next step since as of now my lawyer was not able to get any response from CIS regarding the processing of my case. My worst fear is that congressmen are busy people too and may not have the time and/or willingness to deal with such a problem simply because CIS is a federal institution and a congressman may feel that CIS judgment on this matter (to delay my paperwork or not to process it for whatever reasons) is more reliable than my judgment. Oh well, in 2 weeks I’ll give it a try anyway and let’s see what happens – I will keep you posted.
Regards,
sushi